Recently Viewed

Prague General University Hospital

VFN (General University Hospital) in Prague is one of the
biggest healthcare institutions and provides specialist care in
Prague, the Central Bohemian Region and, in some cases, throughout
the whole of the Czech Republic. Around 60,000 patients are admitted
every year. More than 2.5 million patient visits are made, and more
than 6 million laboratory analyses carried out. VFN employs 5,500 staff.

The Challenge

The objective of implementing this patient identification (ID)
solution was to increase patient safety during clinical procedures,
as well as streamlining internal procedures relating to
accreditation standards and increasing efficiencies. Previously
there was only a manual patient ID process which relied on human
accuracy. Medical staff would ask the patient's identification at
their bedside. However, this method created inaccuracies during drug
administration and operating procedures, particularly in cases where
it was difficult to communicate with patients due to their poor
physical health or mental state.

Medical staff had to search for information held in a central
register that contained more than a million patients in VFN. With
frequently recurring names, there was also the risk of incorrect
data being entered into the hospital's IT system against the wrong
patient. This consequently jeopardised the patient's safety.

There is also a significant issue of personal data protection
relating to patient ID. Carrying out a search in the full register
containing all patient records could also result in personal
information, sometimes of a sensitive personal nature, being
divulged. The outcome of which could result in legal proceedings.

The Solution

Patient ID using barcode printed wristbands uniquely identifies
the patient as well as increasing the safety of treatment procedures
and the protection of actual patients. The consequent result is a
reduced error rate in patient ID, both when dealing with patients in
person during clinical procedures and also for medical staff using
the hospital's IT system. The use of this type of technology
increases labour efficiencies for hospital staff. It produces
standard procedures for identifying patients which can be observed
and evaluated. The result is better protection against patients'
personal data being entered in to VFN hospital's IT system.

A technology solution for unique patient identification had been
successfully implemented at VFN since 1999 by the hospital's IT
sytems supplier. The hardware platform included Zebra® printers and
Motorola hand-held mobile terminals, which resulted in a reliable
and effective solution.

The Zebra® HC100™ printer fully satisfied patient wristband
printing requirements in a healthcare environment. The key
influencing factors were the printer's ease-of-use, the ability to
swap wristband cartridges and its optimal design for healthcare
activities. With its narrow footprint, the HC100 takes a minimal
amount of space. Also Zebra patient wristbands provided legibility,
durability and wearable comfort for patients. These wristbands did
not restrict patients. Due to the wristband antibacterial layer, the
number of patients developing skin problems from wearing these was minimal.

Results

The key benefits are human error elimination when determining
patient identity. This ensures the right patient receives the right
treatment, and overall patient safety is improved. Patient
wristbands can help introduce new mobile diagnostic tools for
instant online communication of the results from the patient's
examination, straight from their bedside, via the network, to the
hospital's IT system. Thanks to the unique identification system,
this data is automatically stored in patient monitoring
documentation. Nurses therefore no longer need to manually record
information on aspects such as blood sugar levels and then upload
this same information into the relevant section of the hospital's IT
system. This helps avoid and minimise incorrectly recorded results
or patient identity mistakes.

Thanks to this unique identification system, a drug
administration record solution has been set up at the patient's
bedside. When administering drugs, the nurse moves between patients
with a mobile drug cabinet. The drug administration schedule is
displayed after scanning the patient's identity from the wristband
on a hand-held PDA (personal digital assistant) and the actual
administration is confirmed by the nurse straightaway on the PDA.
This allows not only important clinical data to be collected, but
also useful information concerning pharmaceutical logistics.

Consequently patients realise that VFN hospital is focused on
and provides quality care. By using wristbands, this significantly
reduces the risk to patient welfare. For this reason when given the
opportunity to choose a healthcare institution, patients choose the
one which deploys state-of-the-art procedures and technology. This
is an important aspect in marketing healthcare services where the
use of unique identification tools is a key influencing factor.

There is no longer any discussion nowadays about whether to
deploy unique patient ID. The only discussion can be about what
method or in what format it should be deployed. VPN hospital's
patient ID solution based on printing a barcode on patient
wristbands using Zebra's technology is economical, practical and user-friendly.